The Demon Inside
by Little-Firefly1
Summary: The new girl at Bayville has an interesting past, and a few other secrets as well. Is she someone who can be trusted? R&R cuz I'm a greedy author! Possibly Kurt&OC later. Rated R for later instances.
1. Fangs?

Long silver hair with red tips. Red handkerchief in her hair tied at the nape of her neck. Black baggy pants and a black, button down shirt that looked like it belonged on a guy. The only thing that really gave her away as female for sure was the slight bump of her chest under the baggy shirt and the lack of facial hair. She was also a new student at Bayville High who looked like she would fit in just fine with Rogue. In fact, that's what she was thinking as she spotted the confused newcomer trying to find a seat in the overcrowded school lunchroom.  
  
"Hey, over here!!!"  
  
Rogue managed to yell loud enough to attract her attention over the constant droning of her fellow students. Luckily, the new girl heard her and made her way through the swarm to the table Rogue was at. She seemed wary at first but settled her inner demons and sat down next to the white- striped girl.  
  
"You're new here right?"  
  
Rogue looked the girl over and decided she was doing pretty well for her first day.  
  
"Yeah, the name's Aria. Do I stick out that badly?"  
  
"Ah'm Rogue. It's just the fact that not many people dare to dress like us. Plus, not everyone can get away with having silver hair and look good with it."  
  
"Thanks. Nobody has good taste anymore. What about you? How'd you get stuck in a town like this?"  
  
"Ah live at the Institute. It's lahke a boarding school that's co-ed and doesn't suck that bad."  
  
"That's cool. So is the food here edible or does it just look disgusting?" Aria wrinkled her nose at the mystery meat sitting on her plate.  
  
"It's edible if ya have a cast-iron stomach. Mah friend Kurt went to go get some burgers for us. Ya can have one of mine," she offered.  
  
It wasn't every day she met new people and this girl seemed friendly enough.  
  
"Thanks," Aria flashed Rogue a smile. She was a bit surprised when she saw the long pointy canines. Fangs. They reminded her of Kurt all too easily..  
  
"So is it just me or do these kids seem to like staring and throwing dirty looks at you?" Aria scratched at the paint on one of her blue fingernails and fished in one of her many pockets for some gum.  
  
"Well Ah hate to put a damper on this wonderful chat but have ya been keeping up with the mutant stories in the news?"  
  
"Yeah. My dad was one."  
  
Rogue blanched at the outright statement but continued with her mini- speech. "Well Ah'm one too. Ah understand if ya want to leave the table now, considering Ah can suck the life right outta ya." She finished with a sigh and leaned back in her chair a bit.  
  
Aria chewed on her lip, the gum long forgotten. 'I wonder if I should tell her..' Her thoughts were interrupted by a person plopping down next to Rogue and dumping burgers out of a bag onto the table.  
  
"Thanks Kurt."  
  
"No problem. I'll do anything for a starving Rogue."  
  
Kurt began chomping into a burger that dripped condiments all over the foil wrapper. He chewed and swallowed the delicious chunk of meat before noticing the other girl at the table.  
  
"And who is this fine addition to your table, mein Rogue?"  
  
"That's Aria, Kurt. Ah told her she could have one of mah burgers instead of mystery meat," she began going through the wrappers and picked out one she figured Aria would eat.  
  
Most of Kurt's were covered in ketchup and other things that he tended to overdo himself on. As Aria began to chew on her burger thoughtfully, Kurt whispered into Rogue's ear.  
  
"What's with her? Is she mute?"  
  
"Nah, Ah just told her Ah'm a mutant."  
  
"Ach! Rogue you certainly know how to make friends, don't you?" He plastered a smile on his face and waved a hand in front of Aria's face. "Hello, Aria. Nice to meet you too."  
  
She blinked when his hand passed in front of her eyes and she smiled over at Kurt. He noticed her fangs too but wasn't able to hide his surprise as well as Rogue. His smile fell and his jaw dropped open. The look on his face was of pure shock and Aria immediately wondered if she had done something to give herself away. A smile slowly crept onto his face and he got a mischievous look in his eyes.  
  
"Forgive my staring. Would you please come with me, Aria?"  
  
"Uhhhhhh..... sure."  
  
Rogue looked at Kurt strangely before he flashed her a holographic smile and led Aria away. She continued to wolf down her burger and followed Kurt at a safe distance. If he brushed against her he might notice. As she walked outside she placed her hand on her handkerchief rather quickly in an attempt to hold it in place against the breeze. He led her over to a table full of students from all grades. They seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly, despite the fact that all of the other students were casting them weird looks.  
  
"Ahem," Kurt raised his voice above the others, "Everyone, I would like you to meet Aria. She's new here and I thought she deserved to be introduced to you guys."  
  
"Hi everybody!" Aria waved a hello greeting and flashed them all another one of her peculiar smiles.  
  
The reaction throughout the X-men was very similar to Kurt's initial one. Jaws dropped and they stared. The first one to speak was Kitty.  
  
"Like, oh my gawd."  
  
Aria visibly cringed. The staring combined with the valley girl accent had done her in for the day. A disgusted look crossed her face and she turned to walk back into the cafeteria. She threw away her wrapper right inside the door and made her way back to Rogue. Rogue was waiting patiently and seemed to be absorbed in her own thoughts. Aria sat down and burst out.  
  
"Ok, what is it? Why are people staring at me?"  
  
"Whaddya mean?"  
  
"Well that boy took me over to some of his friends and introduced me to them. I smiled and said hi and they all stared at me. Is it customary to stare at people now?"  
  
"Ah don't think it's that. Ah'm pretty sure it's your teeth."  
  
"My teeth? Do I have something stuck in them?"  
  
"Nah, it's yah fangs. Kurt made a bet to the others that he could find someone else with a set o' fangs just like his."  
  
"So I just made Kurt a bunch of money?" Aria got a hurt look on her face. "I wish he would have told me. Then I wouldn't have had to feel so crappy after getting those stares. It was like I was a freak at a show."  
  
"Ah know whatcha mean. He was probably overjoyed to find someone with the same dental anomaly."  
  
"Still, I wouldn't have minded if he had told me," Aria paused and laughed to herself, "Too bad, I thought he was kinda cute."  
  
Rogue stared at Aria and tried to sift through the millions of thoughts going through her head. Sister mode was trying to kick in and save Kurt from any unwanted followers. Amanda was almost too much as it was. She shook her head and smiled one of her rare smiles at Aria.  
  
"If ya only knew.."  
  
The two girls shared a good laugh before being interrupted by a few troublesome students.  
  
"Hey mutie scum. What are you doing here? You're a danger to my safety."  
  
"Back off Duncan. You know ya shouldn't mess with me. Or would yah rather spend some time in a coma? Miss some of those brain killing football practices?"  
  
Aria watched the exchange in silence. Rogue almost seemed to enjoy spitting that last part out at the boy she called Duncan. Aria placed her hand on Rogue's shoulder to get her attention. The reaction she got was a lot more than she bargained for. Rogue had grabbed her hand and spun around so their faces were almost touching.  
  
"Aria, if you know what's good for ya, you'll never touch me again, and you'll leave now before this gets ugly."  
  
She just nodded dumbly and stood up. She backed away slowly and as an afterthought Rogue added, "Go fahnd Kurt!"  
  
With a last glance at her new friend, Aria went outside to find Kurt. She took off at a run and headed towards the table he had led her to earlier.  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
Well there you have it. First chapter and I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I intend to not leave this as a one-shot but my inspiration is in a bit of a lull. Feel free to review *ahem* *cough cough* and uhhhhhhhhhhh.. Leave me your thoughts. If I get enough input this one could go real far. R&R if you want more. 


	2. Sacrifice

Aria frantically searched for anyone she recognized, namely Kurt. With little success at visually locating him she began calling out his name. She kept wondering while she yelled and eventually she spotted the bright red hair of one of the girls that had been at the table. She made a beeline for it and skillfully dodged a few random students in the process. She slammed her hands down on the table and everyone looked up at her.  
  
"Look, we're sorry about earlier. We shouldn't have stared at you like that," apologized the red head.  
  
Aria's shoulders heaved as she tried to catch her breath. She managed to wheeze out her message between gasps for air.  
  
"Rogue's in trouble. some kid named Duncan. going to fight."  
  
"What?! He knows he shouldn't be doing something like that. What's gotten into him?" The red head was flustered and looked ready to kill the aforementioned guy.  
  
"Let's go help her before this gets ugly," said a guy wearing red shades. His face was set and he had an authoritarian air about him.  
  
Aria pondered for a moment why he would be wearing red sunglasses but tossed it up to personal taste. She didn't question other people's dressing habits because, frankly, she got enough questions about her own.  
  
**  
  
Rogue had managed to delay Duncan from actually touching her skin but it wasn't easy. All of the other students were in her way and she had to dodge around everything. She had begun to tire and people seemed to be stuck still until she bumped into them form behind. A lunch tray that had fallen onto the ground in the mad chase caught on her boot and she tripped. Duncan caught up to her and he looked ready to murder her in cold blood.  
  
"Finally! Time to grind up a mutant. You guys don't belong here and I intend to remove you."  
  
"Don't count yah luck, boy. Ah don't intend to go down easy. Ya just picked yahself the hardest fight in the group."  
  
The boy was enraged by her remark and began to charge at her. Rogue quickly slipped off one of her gloves and prepared to knock the boy out with one swipe. Even if she wasn't supposed to use her powers at school she didn't care anymore. The torture she and the other students endured wasn't worth going to school. She would relish taking out one of their worst enemies at Bayville and be proud of it no matter what the cost.  
  
A split-second before impact a gust of wind blew Duncan back off his feet and he landed on the lunch tray Rogue had slipped on. It took a moment for her to realize that no ordinary breeze could do that and began searching the crowd for a familiar white-haired student. Scrambling to her feet, she ran through a gap in the students and tried to get as far away from the scene as possible.  
  
A quick dip next to her table and she had her bag. Now she just had to casually walk outside and find Kurt so he could port her home. Just as she was getting to the back doors they burst open and she skidded to a stop. Her boots made a peculiar squeaking noise as they rubbed against the linoleum. A few students covered their ears in pain but everyone turned to look towards the sound.  
  
"Rogue! Are you, like, ok?"  
  
"Fahne Kitty. Duncan's another matter."  
  
"You didn't?! You know how much trouble we're in for!"  
  
"Ah didn't absorb him if that's watcha mean. It seems someone else lahkes to play with their powers though."  
  
"Who?" Scott had slid over and made sure Rogue was ok before questioning her.  
  
"Mah guess is Pietro, but ya never know. The wind seems to have a few other friends too."  
  
Aria squeezed herself past the doors and Kitty so she could see what had happened. Some of the snippets of conversation had slipped over to her and she had a few questions of her own.  
  
"Who's Pietro?"  
  
Everyone looked at her and became very quiet. They realized that she might have heard some of their exchange and wondered just how much she knew.  
  
*Jean, can you see if she knows what we're talking about?*  
  
*Sure.. weird. I can't get in Scott. It's like she has a mental shield or something. Definitely need to tell the Professor about this later.*  
  
"Pietro's just one of the kids that has a thing for Rogue."  
  
"And Ah don't appreciate it very much, Jean."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Silence fell over them for a moment before Rogue began to walk forward and try to get out. Aria noticed that she was bleeding from a cut on her elbow.  
  
"Rogue, you're bleeding."  
  
"Ah am? Where?"  
  
"On your elbow, right below the bone."  
  
She twisted her arm around, trying to get a look at it. When she couldn't find it she looked at Aria suspiciously.  
  
"Ah still can't fahnd it. Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah, it's right here."  
  
Aria moved forward and pointed to the back of her arm that was a blind spot in Rogue's vision. She put her arm over the spot and pulled it away. Sure enough, there was a small amount of blood trickling through a scrape that she had no idea was there.  
  
"Great, now Ah need a bandage for this."  
  
"Here."  
  
Aria pulled off the handkerchief that was wrapped around her head. A few people gasped when she did. Rogue was still concentrating on the blood and when she looked up she froze.  
  
Sticking out of the top of Aria's head were two horns. They jutted backwards at first and then turned back forwards after about an inch. The ends were pointed and looked quite deadly. She was looking stoically at Rogue, despite all of the stares.  
  
The handkerchief hung in her hand for another moment before she dropped it and turned around. Rogue caught the piece of fabric before it hit the ground. Everyone was speechless. Aria had just blatantly ruined any chances she ever had of living a semi-normal school life. All for Rogue.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********  
  
Well here's another chapter. I can't promise that I'll churn them out at two per week from now on. I have school and other things. If I could just write I would be very happy but we can't all be happy can we?  
  
Golden Slumbers: I can assure you I won't drop this fic. I've got plans for it but I can't guarantee regular updates. Sometimes I run into writer's block when I least expect it. I'm glad you're reading my fic since you don't usually read OCs. I hope I don't disappoint you.  
  
R&R peoples. It's what makes an author's world go round. 


	3. Allegence

Aria stood perfectly still. Her shoulders were drawn up but she wasn't crying. Her hands were in her pockets and her hair was surrounding her face. Rogue snapped out of her trance and tied the cloth around her arm. It was almost as if you could hear a pin drop in the overcrowded building. Then the whispering started. Voices swept over the entire crowd and reminded Rogue of her head, with all of the psyches she had absorbed.  
  
Still, Aria did not move. She didn't run, she didn't lash out, she break down. She just stood there, as if she were invisible. Rogue caught snatches of the whispers and it just made her anger resurface. This girl had just done the most wondrous thing and it was the single most generous thing anyone in Bayville had ever done for her. The whispering continued and gained volume until Rogue couldn't stand it anymore.  
  
"Shut the hell up!!!!!"  
  
The response was immediate. Everyone got quiet and stared at her. Even her fellow X-men were surprised by the outburst. The tension in the room was mounting and it was almost palpable.  
  
"All of ya are a disgrace t' humankind! No wonder some mutants want t' take ovah the world. None of ya are any bettah than the dirt on the bottom o' mah boot if yah'll are gonna judge her by her appearance."  
  
Her southern accent had come out in her fury and the fleeting thought of whether or not they actually understood her skipped across her mind. She stormed over to Aria and lightly placed her hand on the silent girl's shoulder.  
  
"C'mon, we don't need this. There's better places than this for us."  
  
Rogue looked into Aria's eyes for a moment and the emotions held there were incredible. It was like she was a little child again waiting to be told everything would be ok. Rogue knew she had wounded Aria when she stared at her. She was alone again but this time the others knew she was a mutant. The worst part was that she couldn't hide with the others. She was alone.  
  
"Outta my way!!" There was a commotion at the back of the room and students were scrambling to get out of the way. The x-men knew it was Blob but Aria had no idea what was going on.  
  
"Hey Rogue," Pietro drawled, in his usual smug tone. "Whatcha got here? A new recruit?" The grin on his face grated on Rogue's nerves and if he weren't so fast she would have slapped him.  
  
"No." Aria's voice was quiet and subdued.  
  
"Oh, so she speaks. What are you doing the X-geeks then? I've never seen you help them out before."  
  
"I'm new in Bayville."  
  
"Hmmmmm. That still doesn't explain why you're hanging out with them."  
  
"I. I'm not. I'm alone." Aria looked up at Pietro and her stare almost broke him. He fell down and got up so fast that she only saw him falter and stumble for a moment. The resignation in her eyes told him that she really was alone. A pang of sorrow flitted through him for the poor girl.  
  
"So if you're not with them, and you're alone like you say, why don't you come with us?" He swept his hand around to include the rest of the Brotherhood.  
  
"Back off, Pietro. She's better off with us than ya'll."  
  
"But isn't that her decision? What if she doesn't want to go with you? Hmmmmm?"  
  
"Ah just don' want her t' end up in a mess with ya'll that she can't get out of."  
  
"What do you want me to do? Promise to protect her personally?"  
  
"Don' flattah yah'self Speedy. The professah can give her more than ya silly 'boarding house' evah could."  
  
"Stop this right now!" Scott came forward and put a hand on Rogue's shoulder.  
  
"I don't know what you think you're doing trying to order me around Shades. I'm with the Brotherhood and I don't take orders from no one."  
  
"Correction Pietro. Even if I'm not your official leader you're still obligated to take orders from me."  
  
Lance walked right past Pietro and up to Aria. He held out his hand in a friendly manner and waited for her to shake hands with him. She timidly stretched out her right hand and let her fingers slide gently across his palm. He smiled warmly at her and something flickered between them before the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. Lance was quickly swept away in the crowd but Aria saw a wistful smile play across his lips before he was gone from her sight.  
  
She sighed and picked up her bag, preparing to go to class but then she stopped. The bag was forgotten and she stood up straight, shutting her eyes while she did so. Her heartbeat rang in her ears and her breathing slowed down to match it. All around her there were minute changes occurring in the consistency of the air and her hair began to change. The red on the tips crept up the strands of silver and Aria began to whimper.  
  
"Stop it! Don't come out now. Please! I can't do this right now. Later, I promise."  
  
With those last few words the red subsided back to the very ends and flashed golden for a moment before going back to a dull burgundy. She glanced down at her watch and swore under her breath before dashing out of the empty cafeteria. She was going to be late to Physics if she didn't hurry.  
  
As she passed a door in the hallway her sixth sense picked up something. The door was cracked open slightly and she went over to it. As she peeked through the crack the sight surprised her. A blue woman was holding the principal, whom she had met earlier that day, upside-down. Her hair was bright red and she was clad in a two-piece black bodysuit. Words were passing between them and she caught a few snippets of it.  
  
"Leave them alone. Her associations aren't your business.... Not a mutant, got it?"  
  
The woman abruptly dropped Principal Kelly and headed for the door, morphing her appearance into that of a student as she did so. Aria barely had time to get out of the way before she would get caught. As Mystique opened the door she found a curious breeze rushing through the hallway that reminded her of Pietro. She cautiously looked around for a moment before morphing into a pigeon and scuttling down the hallway to find the window she had come in through. Just as she was about to take flight a pair of hands grabbed her. She struggled but couldn't break free and didn't morph back for fear that it was just a student who was passing through and saw a bird. A sharp pain throbbed in her neck for a moment before she began to pass out.  
  
**  
  
Silver Smiles: Thank you for caring about my review box. I'm glad someone cares.  
  
This chapter took forever to type because I had so much homework. They should come more regularly as long as I can keep writing during Spanish 4 class. 


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